Interactive entertainment pioneer Telltale Inc. and GameTap, the first-of-its-kind broadband entertainment network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., today announced that the groundbreaking Sam & Max episodic game series will return this fall for another round of online mayhem.

Sam & Max Season Two follows the highly successful and critically-acclaimed debut that ran from Fall 2006 through Spring 2007. Each episode will premiere exclusively for play on GameTap, followed by a downloadable release on Telltale’s website the next day.

Season One was a great success, but it’s just a starting point for us, says Telltale’s CEO Dan Connors. The episodic model presents so many opportunities to innovate and engage the audience in brand new ways. Just wait until you see what Telltale and GameTap have in store with Season Two.

GameTap and Telltale successfully proved the idea that games can work in a TV show format, said Ricardo Sanchez, vice president of content and creative director for GameTap. The Sam & Max episodes continue to be among the top titles played at GameTap and we expect that Season Two will be an even bigger draw.

Sam & Max Season Two will feature the same quick wit and bizarre scenarios Telltale’s team and Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell delivered the first time around?and more! We’re keeping the general structure and gameplay, and focusing on telling farther-reaching, crazier stories, says Telltale’s design director Dave Grossman. You’ll see some changes to the world, too; improvements that were born out of player feedback and our own desire to make the most fun games anyone has ever played.

Some of these changes are evident in the first Season Two render, released today, which is set in Stinky’s, the diner down the street from Sam & Max’s office that remained closed for the entire first season. Additional game assets, including glimpses of brand new characters and environments, will be revealed at San Diego Comic-Con starting tomorrow at the panel, Episodic Games and Comics ? Made for Each Other (11:30-12:30 in room 1AB).

The landmark Sam & Max Season One is currently available at www.telltalegames.com and www.gametap.com as well as other download services, and will be coming to retail stores in August courtesy of The Adventure Company in North America and JoWooD in Europe. For more information about Sam & Max, including a four-part retrospective feature celebrating the duo’s 20th anniversary, visit www.telltalegames.com/samandmax.